The lunch break is a sacred time of reprieve that many of us look forward to from the moment we step into the office. It’s a time to relax and gather momentum before the second half (often the busier half) of the day begins. The lunch hour is spent walking around the office, meeting colleagues, chatting near the water cooler, yawning, stretching and with whatever time is left, eating.
In today’s increasingly fast-paced workplace, you can, with careful consideration, utilise your lunch break to work for you in furthering your career. Following are some suggestions.
Homework
In any line of work, you are bound to meet a number of people every day in a professional capacity. Do your homework before you meet them. Research the people you hope to meet that day, or better yet, that week, be it at your office, at their office, or at work-related events; you will find that it will pay off (a simple Google search goes a long way; looking up their LinkedIn page is always a good idea).
This way you are prepared for the meeting, and you have cues as to how to approach this particular person, how to address them, what to talk about etc. All for a successful meeting!
Follow-up
Never underestimate the importance of following up; if practised properly and regularly, this single approach will put you ahead of fellow colleagues. Every time you meet a person professionally, send them an email, text message, or Facebook message within 24 hours to thank them for giving you their time, and a brief summary of all that has been discussed during the meeting and any following steps to be undertaken.
This solidifies the working relationship, and makes sure that both parties are still on the same page and minor details have not been overlooked.
Networking
Failure of networking arises from the fact that people think of it as a series of episodes, instead of a continuous, 24-hours-a-day-7-days-a-week thing.
Speedy success in your career comes from being needed, and not merely tolerated or accepted. The way to become somebody who is needed is by handing out important information, contacts and ideas to as many people as possible.
Utilise any free time during the lunch hour to participate in water cooler discussions; connect two people together you think can help each other out, and out of it, just for making introductions, you earn the goodwill of two people.
Hello
A lot of people disregard how far a casual, friendly hello can take your professional career. Be it texts, emails, Facebook messages (depending on what the recipient checks most often), use them to your advantage to make sure you are always on the top of people’s minds (too often, and you may become annoying). A simple hello reminds a person that you’re thinking of them and that your relationship with them means something to you. With your hello, add a line or two about something relevant (a personal goal that you’ve recently reached, important update on news that you may have unique insight on etc.)
These are suggestions that should be practised at any appropriate time for the continued success of your career. However, the lunch hour in particular is an ideal time because it is time out from work, but technically in the middle of work so you have the proper frame of mind. All of these suggestions seem very tedious, and results are not instantaneous. But as with anything else in life, you must give, and give again, before you get.
